Dancer
by Ecrit
Summary: She danced in the streets not because she was poor, but for the sake of dancing. The townspeople were nicer, more humble and when they smiled they meant it and that was why she was so reluctant in accepting the prince's proposal that she become a dance teacher to his sister. The little girl was probably the most spoiled child she had ever had the pleasure to meet.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

She sat on the floor, her shoulders rested on the fruit vendor's stand. He had agreed to let her perform there because it attracted customers. She was resting now, the sun was beginning to set and the townspeople were inside their houses enjoying a fully cooked meal. She of course, was no beggar, no, the money she got from the people was for the hungry children on the streets.

It was on Sundays, of every week that she would come out and dance in the square. People tossed money into her hat and all she did was dance all day.

The people of the town had begun to expect her, though she knew they wondered why she only danced one day.

It was because she loved dance, her mother had been a dancer and as a child she had been trained very strictly to be a dancer. But of course, when her

mother died her trainings had stopped. Her father had to travel a lot and so he took her along with him, which meant there was no time for things such as dance lessons.

It wasn't until she'd reached the age of sixteen that he had allowed her to stay behind when he went travelling. He left her at his stepsister's house, in a

foreign country. It was needless to say that they did not like her. She was strange to them, and the first day that her father left her alone with them they began showing how much they didn't like her.

Her aunt was kind enough, but it was her daughters who acted as if she carried the plague. And although they never mistreated her she began to notice how they acted towards other people. They yelled at their servants and threw tantrums and within a year, she had begun to act out against it. Her father

had always told her that it was wrong to see injustice happening and ignoring it so she had begun to help out around the house.

Her aunt wasn't that rich, and her husband was just a baker. The only reason they had servants and such was because of the family that her aunt came from. She had been disowned soon after marrying the baker but she'd started a big catering business, borrowing money from her dad and his sister.

They all now lived just on the outer reaches of the city, and maybe two or three miles from the town, and half the year she would be living there. The other half her dad would pick her up and they would travel around. That was, until this year.

"Papa wants me to stay" She crossed her arms and pouted. "Or stay at someone else's house somewhere else, but I can't travel this year"

The vendor looked at her amused. "And you're unhappy? There's nowhere you haven't been, its not as if you're missing out on anything."

"I know…" She admitted, "But I hate staying here."

He raised one eyebrow pretending to be affronted. "Even when I let you dance on my spot! Ungrateful wench."

'"Shut up Marko," she stuck her tongue out at him. "You only let me stay because Juliette comes by to talk to me."

"Juliette? Who's Juliette?" He smirked, widening his eyes in fake innocence.

"Oh please." She rolled her eyes, picking up the hat filled with coins. "I'm going to go meet her now. You can tag along if you want."

"Wait, one second, I need to pack up." The man scrambled to pack the leftover fruits into his cart. "You better not leave without me."

"'Who's Juliette?' He says" She mocked grinning and helping the man to pack his stuff.

"Hey, you know if your father won't take you, you can always stay with us." He offered nudging her with his elbow.

"With you…?" She shoved the last box into the cart and lifted up one side.

"Yeah, mum and the kids would love it too. They adore you!" She bit her lips uncertain.

"I dunno, they'd get annoyed with me after a week!"

"Yeah, probably" He shrugged, "I can't even stand you."

"Yeah, because you're the most patient person in the world"

"I am!"

"Okay, yeah… maybe you are…" She knew he was too, probably the most patient person she knew.

"Where does she live?" He asked panting slightly, they'd been walking for half an hour now and he had been pulling the cart the entire time. The houses

were beginning to thin and they had left the evenly paved roads of the city and were on the bumpy trail that led to the countryside.

"This cart is unbelievably heavy" He complained out loud earning an eye roll from the girl.

"Ugh, you're so in need of a workout." She grinned poking his arms. "Yeah, no muscle at all."

"Are we there yet?" He asked again, ignoring the girl's remarks. "It's getting cloudy, I heard that the rain was coming today." He was right, the sun was

covered up with dozens of dark clouds and light thunder could be heard. There was no rain however.

"Yeah, that's her house right there" She said pointing at a small cottage that was hidden among a mass of trees. "And look! She's right there too!"

"She is?" He asked fixing his hair, a small blush beginning to rise on his face. The girl sprinted towards the house as another figure ran towards her.

"Leilani!" The other girl ran up to her, grinning from ear to ear. "Did you bring it?"

"Of course I did, seriously Jules." The redhead girl grinned even wider holding out her hand.

"Gimme" The other girl gently dropped a necklace into her hand.

"See? There was nothing to worry about." The redhead jumped, hugging the other girl tightly.

"I didn't doubt you for a second."

"Of course you didn't." She pulled apart, "I brought you something else too." A sly grin came over her mouth as she turned and nodded her head towards

the man pulling the cart.

"I think you've been introduced to Marko?" She waved at him, and winked at her friend.

"Oh no…. I abhor you… I hope you know that…" Leilani smirked, watching as the redhead fidgeted on her feet, dusting off her skirt and fixing her hair.

"Juliette!" Marko's eyes lit up as he reached the girls. "H-how have you been?"

"I'm good, I- uh.. How have you been?" She asked. Her fingers combing through her hair.

"I've been good, um.. you haven't been to the town in a while." He added, while Leilani watched bemused at the awkwardness ensuing between the two.

"Oh, no I haven't, I've been busy," She gave Leilani a panicked look but the other girl ignored her.

It was beginnning to rain, small droplets of water began to fall and the three of them headed into the small cottage.

"Do you want some tea Leigh? Marko?" Juliette asked as the other two entered through the door. The roof was so low that it brushed against Marko's hair

as he walked.

"That would be great Jules!" Leighlani chirped as she collapsed into the bright orange hammock. "Marko would like one too, he hasn't eaten all day actually he's just too polite to ask."

Marko's face went red upon hearing this and even redder when he heard Juliette giggling from the kitchen. "What would you like Marko? I'm sure tea isn't enough."

"Its really alright Juliette, I can eat when I get home" Marko replied, glaring at the girl sitting next to him who was now stifling a laugh.

"Nonsense, I was planning on having chilli tonight, I could cook up some extra for you guys as well."

Marko opened his mouth to tell her not to bother herself but Leighlani stopped him. "Oh Chilli! You better make a lot, Papa loves your chilli!"

"I will, don't worry!" They heard a clanking of pots and before they knew it Juliette was walking out with a giant bowl full of heavenly smelling chilli.

Marko's stomach growled as she placed it on the small table in front of him.

"Wow, Marko, that is a loud growl, you must be starving. He blushed, it was one thing to have Leigh tell her that he hadn't eaten all day but his stomach growling was too embarrassing. "Don't worry, its not that embarrassing." The girl gave him a friendly smile as she scooted in next to him.

"Leigh, get off my bed or you won't be getting any Chilli" She threatened.

"But mommm... " She teased, sitting on the floor opposite her friends.

The chilli was gone in seconds, and Marko could swear he had never tasted anything so good in his entire life. As if reading his thoughts Juliette came out with two bowls both wrapped in blue cloth.

"Here, this is the extra, you guys can take it home with you." Marko thanked her profusely.

"Well, it was nice seeing you Jules," Leigh said as she got up,"but I gotta go home before my dad gets there."

"What? You're leaving already?" Juliette asked,

"Sorry, I'd stay over if I could but I have to go home." Juliette's face fell, and so did Marko's since that meant that he'd have to leave too.

The girl opened the door only to be greeted with an onslaught of rain. "You wouldn't happen to have an umbrella would you Jules?" She asked shutting the

door with a grimace.

"Oh, c'mon Leigh, you can go home tomorrow morning! It's much to wet to go outside." And as if to prove a point a loud thunder could be heard accompanied with a bright flash of light.

"No, I have to go home. Don't worry Marko can keep you company."

Marko looked appalled by this. "I should go home as well, my brothers will be worried."

Leighlani rolled her eyes. "They can wait until the morning don't worry Marko. I'll see you tomorrow!" And with that she walked off into the wetness.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm mainly focusing on my other story Arranged for the moment so the updates in this chapter will be painfully slow. **

**I hope you guys enjoy it though!**

**And if you haven't read Arranged yet you should try it out! **

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CHAPTER 2

When Leighlani had gotten home her aunt had curtly informed her that her father had been caught up by the flood a few miles back and had been unable to come in time. Apparently he had a lot of merchandise with him which meant that he could not take the longer route to get here.

That wasn't the reason she was outside in the rain again however, it was her obnoxious cousin who had, the moment she had found out that her father wasn't home yet, rubbed in the fact that he was leaving her again instead of taking her on tour. She had of course ignored her, the first ten times she'd said it but then her aunt had joined in during dinner and she had left.

She hated it, living in that insufferable house with her pompous cousins and her aunt that clearly despised her.

She wished her father would let her return to Lorraine, but no, she felt like she would be stuck in Ajibad forever. It wasn't that she didn't like this place, in fact, she loved it. The people here were far less stuck up than the people at the Lorraine courts that she'd have to live in if she went there. It was just her aunt and her daughters, she detested them.

They were incredibly good at making her feel inadequate, and of course her vanity would not have that. She was sure that if she were more like her aunt, the nicer one, her father's actual sister then they would have been able to squish her like an ant.

Though, a part of her mind said that maybe they would like her more if she went along with their values but she couldn't. They weren't horrible to her, but it was the snide comments, the offhand ones that they made which made her blood boil.

So now, she was dancing again, the rain had stopped and the square was lit up. There were few people walking around but she knew this part of the city was safe. Anyways, nobody dared hurt her, she had made a name for being able to take care of herself. Her punches were surprisingly painful for someone so petite.

The children were watching her however, some were the shopkeeper's kids and some were the orphans from the orphanage next door;they were used to her coming here at least once a week. She ran away quite a bit and the loved imitating her dance when she came to the courtyard.

She spun around, repeatedly, first she spun quickly, then she slowed down so that they could copy her.

"No Ana, keep your shoulders up." she called winking at the girl. The little girl tried to listen but fell into a puddle.

"Leigh! This is hard!" The dancer laughed good naturedly.

"Of course it is. But you've gotten so much better." She went over to the girl, helping her up and straightening her back.

"Keep your heads up and..." Spinning once as a demo, "Spin." She said.

The girl tried again, looking much more balanced. "Good, see? It worked!"

The little girl spun again and again.

"Leigh! Help me!" Cried a boy who was attempting to spin. The girl moved around helping the kids whenever they asked her to. Soon enough she was humming aloud and conducting a mini dance, a giant proud smile on her face. She noticed that there was one little girl in the crowd that she had never seen before. The girl hadn't called to her but instead had been copying the moves that she had showed to the rest of the children.

She was doing them well, and she could see that the girl had potential. The closer Leigh looked at the girl however, the more she began to notice that the girl didn't seem to belong there. Her hair was to clean, and bright, her skin was fair. She had rosy cheeks that had not even a speck of dirt on them.

The children of the town didn't look like that, in fact she hadn't seen any child like that since her last trip with her father.

The girl's dress was frilly and pretty and Leighlani could tell that this was a noble's daughter. What she was doing dancing with a bunch of orphans she didn't know. No nobleman's child would do this, aside from herself.

She ignored the girl however, what she did was of no concern to Leighlani. Or, she ignored her until a herd of soldiers ran into the yard. Their swords were out and the dancing children all scattered in fright. Most of them went home but the rest hid behind her. She guarded them with her body, not understanding why soldiers would feel the need to have their swords out in the town. The place was completely safe.

Of course, unless... she looked at the only child that hadn't either scattered or hid behind her. The nobleman's daughter stood in the middle, her head held high and a proud expression in her face.

"Princess!" One of the soldiers exclaimed, sheathing his sword. The rest of the soldiers followed suit.

The girl just stared back, a frown on her face, then, from the alleyway a man appeared. She of course recognized him immediately.

The Prince.

The children all peeked out from behind her, she could see the awe in her faces. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she saw the snooty look on his face. His head was held high and his eyes sweeped past her like she was the wall.

"Auriella, what were you thinking running away from the picnic?" His voice was stern and intimidating.

Leighlani felt a surge of understanding toward's the little girl as she spoke up, "I'm sorry dear brother but I didn't much feel like being surrounded by a bunch of snobby women that treated me like a two year old." She wondered if it would be appropriate for her to applaud.

The prince raised his eyebrows. "You aren't much older than two."

She heard herself scoff. The prince looked up at her briefly, as if to silence her. She really did roll her eyes this time, good thing he didn't know who she actually was.

"I am eight." She said proudly.

She agin felt the urge to laugh. The little princess was witty.

"Come on Auri, we have to go to the palace now." The prince demanded but the little girl stood there pouting.

"No, I want to keep dancing." She said.

"Dancing?" The prince looked confused, "you despise dancing."

"No, No I love it. Its just Madame Charmot, she's mean." The prince rolled his eyes.

"You've hated dancing since before Madame Charmot."

"No, I've hated the teachers. I like her!" She pointed straight at Leigh. The prince raised his eyebrows.

"Will you agree to leave now if she becomes your teacher?" He asked. Leighlani looked affronted. Shouldn't he have been asking her first?

"Yes." The prince looked at her.

"You start tomorrow." She raised her eyebrows.

"Start what your highness?" She cocked her head innocently.

"Don't act stupid girl. Your new job, you'll be the dance tutor starting tomorrow." She sighed, wondering how much more spoilt a man could be. Did he truly expect her to do whatever he asked?

Then again, she did look like a beggar and anyone else in this town would easily agree to go work in the palace. It was in fact the highest of honors. Anyone but her, she had no desire to work in the palace, the whole reason she was living with her evil aunt was so that she wouldn't have to be near any sort of politics.

"And what if I refuse this job?" She asked.

"You? Refuse this job? Why in the world would you ever do that?" He scoffed. She wondered how anyone could be so rude. Was this how prince's spoke to their people? No, her uncle had once been a prince and she couldn't imagine him being so rude.

"I do not want to work in the palace." She answered simply.

"You do not _want_ to? You're just a beggar! How could you not want to?" She wondered if her eyebrows would jump out of her face from her raising them too much.

"Because, your highness, I have no need to work for the palace."

"Do you not want to be fed everyday? Or to wake up in a soft bed?" She laughed.

"Your highness, I am no beggar. I am fed everyday, and I am quite happy as I am." The Prince looked shocked.

"Rowe! I'm not leaving unless she can teach me to dance!" The little girl cried. Leigh laughed internally, like brother like sister.

"Well," The prince asked. "Will you teach her or what?" His tone was still arrogant and she wondred if she should humor him more.

"No." She decided that this was a prince and it probably wouldn't be the safest thing to embarrass him.

"No?" The little girl asked. "B-but... you're so good." She looked at the little girl in shock. Her eyes were pleading and she looked like she was about to cry.

"Thank you princess, but I do not want to live in the palace. I have never been a dance instructor and I'm afraid I would not be able to teach you properly." She replied politely. The little girl at least deserved a kind reply.

"But I want you to teach, you make it so much more fun!" The girl pleaded. She shook her head apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I cannot."

"But you can!" The little girl exclaimed, "You just did!"

"This was once, if I was to be your actual instructor it would not be as fun." The little girl just pouted and crossed her arms.

"Please?" Leighlani just looked at the girl, unable to answer in the negative. She looked so desperate so Leigh said the first thing she could think of.

"Maybe. Is that okay princess? I'll think about it." The girl gave her a giant smile and ran over and hugged her.

"Thank you!" She cried.

Leighlani just nodded uncomfortably, knowing that she would never go to the palace, being a dance instructor didn't sound too bad but to have to return to court was terrible. She had better thingss to do.

"Good then." The prince spoke, "you can start tomorrow morning."

"Unless I decide not to." She said.

"No, Rowe, she can start whenever she wants." The little princess said with so much authority that even the prince didn't reply.

"Fine. We expect you there tomorrow morning."

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**R-E-V-I-E-W! I know... The Prince is a douche... **


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